The co-operative game Thunderbirds, released in 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the cult hit TV show, features the iconic Thunderbirds machines and a high-octane world full of disasters for players to rescue.

Set in the year 2065, Thunderbirds follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organization committed to saving human life, secretly founded and funded by the millionaire Tracy family, with the motto: ‘Never give in, at any cost!’ International Rescue has a host of technologically advanced land-, sea-, air-, and space-rescue vehicles and equipment ready to launch at a moment’s notice.

Racing to the rescue from a secret island base beneath the luxurious home of the Tracy family somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean, International Rescue defies government spies and criminals who want the secrets of their incredible machines for their own. To combat this threat, Lady Penelope, the Thunderbirds’ aristocratic English secret agent, and her chauffeur Parker lead a network of agents to uncover those behind the disasters caused by deliberate sabotage.

A criminal mastermind known as “The Hood”, operating from a temple deep in the Malaysian jungle and in possession of strange powers, often engineers events to allow him to spy on the Thunderbird machines with the goal of selling their secrets to the highest bidder.

The iconic Thunderbirds are designed by the Tracy family’s close friend “Brains” and are assigned to each of the five Tracy brothers:
- Thunderbird 1, piloted by Scott Tracy – a hypersonic rocket plane used for fast response and rescue-zone reconnaissance, and as a mobile control base.
- Thunderbird 2, piloted by Virgil Tracy – a supersonic VTOL carrier which transports their major rescue equipment in detachable pods.
- Thunderbird 3, piloted by Alan Tracy – a single-stage, vertically launched spacecraft
- Thunderbird 4, piloted by Gordon Tracy – a utility submersible for underwater rescue, launched from Thunderbird 2
- Thunderbird 5, manned by John Tracy – a space station in geo-stationary orbit that monitors calls for help from across Earth.

Thunderbirds is a cult 1960s British science-fiction television series, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was produced using a combination of marionette puppetry and scale-model special effects, which was dubbed “Supermarionation”. Two series, totaling thirty-two 50-minute episodes, were produced, along with two films using the same techniques.

Players will work together using Thunderbirds characters and vehicles to complete rescue missions and save the day.

It's time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds with a new co-operative board game, designed by Matt Leacock of Pandemic fame.

Kickstarted in February 2015, the new Thunderbirds Co-operative Board Game lets 1-4 players take on the role of International Rescue as they fight to foil the evil schemes of arch enemy The Hood.

This would be tough enough on its own, but at the same time the team has to deal with other disasters popping up all over the world, which is going to need some serious multitasking. Good thing the Tracy boys have Lady Penelope!

The game is straightforward to set up thanks to the well designed board and helpful instructions - here's an introductory game ready to go:

The game uses adorable models for Thunderbirds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and FAB1, each of which comes with a little character peg to indicate what each character is driving. Thunderbird 2 opens up, allowing you to load it up with Thunderbird 4, FAB1 or pod machines.

Small gripe time! Stickers are provided to add identifying marks to each of the models, but I didn't have much luck with them as they're not pre-cut and are made of plastic that's slightly too thick. I found them incredibly fiddly and frustrating, so only a few are stuck on in the pictures! Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but they don't look great so I might peel them off again.

[N.B. It's since been pointed out to me that these are included in case you want to paint up the models properly, so I was doing something wrong. Although they still feel too thick to use like normal Warhammer decals as they don't bend - maybe I'll try painting them and see.]

The Hood's dastardly progress is marked along the top of the board, where he moves along the track revealing event cards as he goes. His three schemes are spaced out along the track and all three need to be defeated to win the game. If he reaches a scheme on the track (marked by a skull and crossbones) before International Rescue have foiled it, the players lose the game.

Each scheme gets progressively tougher, and like all good co-operative board games, the difficulty can be varied as you get better at strategy.

Scheme cards go up to level 4 in the base game, although I did get a level 5 card as part of the Kickstarter set that allows you to trial epic level play; more will come in the planned expansions. For starters I think I'm better off at beginner difficulty - level 5 scheme cards look terrifying!

To defeat a scheme, players must meet the conditions shown on the card. This could mean moving vehicles or pod machines to the right area of the world or discarding bonus tokens in particular locations.

Along the bottom of the board is the disaster track - this is where you can keep track of all the other horrible things happening around the world to distract you from the main scheme. After each player's turn, all unsolved disasters move along the track by one space and a new disaster is drawn. If a disaster reaches the end of the track, the players lose.

In the disaster deck there are also a number of 'The Hood advances' cards which move him further along the track.

Each turn players choose a combination of actions and 'operations' to avert disasters or foil schemes. There are a number of possible actions to choose from, and each player can have up to three per turn.

The move action allows a player to travel the world in their vehicle - each has a different speed allowing them to move a certain number of spaces.

The rescue action lets players attempt to fix a disaster happening in their area on the map. Disaster cards have a difficulty number in the corner which you need to roll equal to or above on the two dice provided for a success. The disaster card will show a number of possible bonuses that can be added to the dice role to help, for instance having the right pod machine in the area might give a +2 bonus. Character cards may also give bonuses for certain types of rescues, for instance Scott Tracy on Thunderbird 1 gets a +2 bonus on air rescues.

Some disasters don't have a target number for dice rolls, instead requiring you to fulfill other conditions specified on the card to clear them.

International Rescue averting disaster in Australia:

Dice rolls can also throw a spanner in the works, as one face of each is marked with a Hood symbol. Every time this is rolled, The Hood moves a space along his track and closer to winning the game.

The plan action allows you to take one of the handy F.A.B. cards, which allow you to do all sorts of helpful things:

They come at a price, however - each time you take one, The Hood moves yet another space along his track. I'm starting to really hate that guy...

The final action only works if you're on Thunderbird 5; scan allows you to move one disaster one space back on the track (if there's an empty gap).

As well as three actions, players can use as many operations as they need. Operations include transferring characters from one vehicle to another, loading or unloading Thunderbird 2, defeating schemes and using bonus tokens.

Here's Lady Penelope hitching a ride in Thunderbird 2 after being loaded up in South America:

Bonus tokens come as rewards for averting disasters. They let you construct new pod vehicles, take extra actions, re-roll dice, add bonuses to dice rolls or gain an F.A.B. card without moving The Hood forward on his track. They are also often requirements for dealing with scheme cards, so you need to judge carefully whether it's better to spend or save your tokens.

If you can avoid the loss conditions and firefight disasters long enough to successfully foil all three of The Hood's schemes, you win the game! Sadly my attempts so far have ended a little like this, with a disaster hitting the end of the track:

Despite my distinct lack of winning, the game is great fun. The theme is beautifully implemented, the components are great quality and the models add so much to everyone's enjoyment (despite my sticker moan!)

Thunderbirds has a familiar Pandemic vibe (I think a lot of that feeling comes from having a big world map as a board), but with lots of extra elements thrown in that you need to think about balancing.

The luck element is more obvious in this than in other co-op board games that I've played because Thunderbirds involves dice, but lining up the right bonuses when dealing with a disaster helps to mitigate the impact of a disastrous roll. I like the risk of leaving a roll to chance in order to save actions you'd have otherwise used to position vehicles for bonuses.

Then there are the decisions on where to focus your efforts. It's easy to forget about dealing with the next approaching scheme card whilst trying to sort out the latest batch of disasters as they creep their way to the end of the track. So much to do, so little time!

More expansions are in the works, with new models for Tin-Tin (with Ladybird Jet), Brains (with Tracy Island) and Parker (with FAB2) incoming, as well as upgraded plastic models for the pod machines and more cards. I get all the expansions as part of my Kickstarter pledge, so I can't wait to see what arrives over the next few months!

If you joined in on the Kickstarter campaign too, I hope you're enjoying your copy and would love to know what you think.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou cannot download files in this forum

The logos and trademarks used on this site are the property of their respective owners
We are not responsible for comments posted by our users, as they are the property of the poster
Interactive software released under GNU GPL,
Code Credits,
Privacy Policy